I like the idea that one day Man would be able to be as ok with his generative organs as plants are, freely exposing the flower and stem to the Sun without as an expression of beauty, but that may just be the pervert in me ;-)

I spend a lot of the summer at my RV in a nudist club. We are at the end of a road in the woods on a hill side. There everybody is enjoying the Sun. Everybody is innocent. Nudity doesn't equate to sex. It's just nudity, instead of being textile compulsive. I manage to get in a couple of social hours a day, walk 3-5 miles daily covering 2000 feet of vertical drop up and down. It's in the hills so a round trip to the pool or hot tub or showers is 200 feet of vertical up and down for each round trip. I get plenty of exercise. Two weeks in the sun and my whole body feels better. I lost 30 pounds last summer getting down to within 10 pounds of my best weight and a lot more fun than dieting. Meals are often social events. It's a family club and everything remotely sexual is done in ones own dwelling.

So be innocent, not perverse, and visit a club and enjoy the beauty on a grand nude day.

Understand, was just teasing. Spent time on the clothing optional beaches in e.g. Europe, nudity (all ages, sizes and shapes) as you said no issue as it is not equated with sex. Such countries typically also have lower incidences of sex crimes.
The ego doesn't like the scene that much though, suddenly the Prada bag, Rolex etc. is left behind and one faces humanity head on with all being equal under the Sun, also quickly breaks down viewing people as sex objects instead of fellow beings.

"for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." This is one of the freedoms that awakening brings - the external magnets for one's energy/attention lose their pull and life can finally be enjoyed rather than grabbed at / locking one in.
Thinking that issues around celibacy arise as sex is such a strong magnet for (but also generator) of energy.

. . . It doesnt say give up sex for good, and in fact it is implied that sex with entities other than women is ok.
I wonder is this really saying that once the philosophers stone is ingested that we are forbidden to father children anymore...? If this is the case.....then I wonder why?

It is known that once a man impregnates a woman, that seed may seem insignificant to most but it is now a royal binding to this world, this realm. That simply means, you will have to birth in again, for you left that part of yourself in the realm behind.

The Philosopher's Stone is a way 'out' from this realm. Release of the royal binding. In other words, one would no way take the Stone and also father children.

It is known that once a man impregnates a woman, that seed may seem insignificant to most but it is now a royal binding to this world, this realm. That simply means, you will have to birth in again, for you left that part of yourself in the realm behind.

The Philosopher's Stone is a way 'out' from this realm. Release of the royal binding. In other words, one would no way take the Stone and also father children.

OK, that should cover the fathering aspect. I tend to see it in a similar way.

But what about the part about giving up sex with women for good? Even without fathering?

I could rationalize and say they didn't have condoms back then, but still, there were other ways to avoid pregnancy...

So maybe the condition of 'giving up sex with women for good' (no mention of interdicting sex with men, BTW) is about more than just producing offspring?

I take it that you were more specifically addressing G. Alchemist's 'fathering' inquiry, which you've interpreted as not leaving 'footprints' such as 'evolved seed'/offspring.

I, however, am sticking to the original text, which says: 'It is necessary to renounce all sensual relationships with women'.

But the text says nothing about fathering/pregnancy or 'evolved seed'. One could still find ways to have 'sensual relationships with women' and NOT 'evolve the seed' (avoiding pregnancy & footprints).

To summarize, the text says nothing to explicitly renounce pregnancy/fathering, masturbation, nocturnal emissions or same-sex coupling, for that matter.

It just says ''to renounce all sensual relationships with women''. That's all it says. And it seems that everyone has different interpretations of this 'requirement'

I think there is much more to this very literal requirement than just 'leaving footprints' or 'leaving behind part of oneself' (UN-needed anchoring/resonating vibrations), if/when one is exiting this plane.

To me, it's more like 'renouncing' an entire mindset/mentality/genetic program/etc... It sounds more like a whole spiritual 'package deal', rather than just a single/specific purpose.

I just went back to the original post and read the entry. It's an interesting subject to broach, but in my mind there's a simple answer.

There are as many individual paths to spiritual enlightenment as there are individuals. Alchemy is merely another tool to get you there.

Even the Masters will reflect this principle in their writings.

Naturally, the word "merely" implies ease or simplicity. Neither is the case. Anyone conscious enough to seek spiritual enlightenment knows that this choice is far from easy.

It is my belief -- substantiated by the physical evidence -- that the illusion of rules in Alchemy is the result of culture, not Alchemy itself.

There are no rules ... or rather, there are no Man-invented rules. There is only the Order of the Universe and those rules that bind its physical manifestations.

Alchemy is the conscious exploration of things that already exist ... of unquestionable rules. Substances combine, or they do not combine, but no Man-perceived rule will change that.

"Things that already exist" is in itself a fallacy since certain things will only come into existence with the conscious and intelligent interaction of the Alchemist, but this does not mean that the Alchemist has "created" anything. These things would not exist without the consent of the Rules and Order of the Universe.

It is sheer arrogance to impose expectations through human perception. How you find your way to the Great Knowledge of the Universe is entirely up to you ... and ... only subject to the limitations of The Universe itself, not some other person's perception. Even if you choose your own "rules," the Universe is structured, controlled and unfolding in ways you cannot manipulate or alter. It will teach you what you can and cannot do and what you can and cannot create.

In other words, you "discover" nothing. Whatever you create, the Universe has known about since its own creation. You are merely on a path wherein you were able to stumble across it.

As for sex ...

I was sitting in a tipi with friends after a sweat lodge a couple of years ago having a nice chat. I had given some thought to what I was about to say for some time, and found the conversation edging over to the subject, so I let it go. I said, "Yanno, the Universe itself is one gigantic Orgasm. We live in a gigantic orgasm, creating life constantly."

The friends, consisting of both men and women, lit up and all came to agree.

The point being, sex, no matter our personal experience, values, religious influence, is LIFE ITSELF.

How, or even whether, you embrace that fact in your spiritual enlightenment is entirely up to you. However, sex is creation and creation is sex. There's no avoiding it.

The "Inner Marriage" discussed in Alchemy is a serious challenge for the Alchemist. Until one fully understands the very rudiments of the female and the male, particularly within one's self, that Alchemist will have a very hard time fully understanding the combination of any number of elements in alchemical exploration. From its core to its fringes, the Universe is constructed through duality, and the male and female are its most basic principles.

I remember, after I had decided not to become a Catholic monastic (an absurd but obsessive thought for a couple of years, considering that I was raised Jewish, and spent 2 years obtaining a Masters of Theological Studies degree from a Methodist seminary), throwing away 2 of Sivananda's books. It wasn't the emphasis on Brahmacharya, although attempting to remain celibate in my 20s was a gross misunderstanding of things. It was Sivananda's projection of all manner of Shadow contents on women. This was an Indian version of the mythic Adam blaming Eve for his decision to disobey God, all over again.

Tantric Yoga is but one pathway to Self-Realization, as Sir John Woodruff (The Serpent Power, Shakti and Shakta) made abundantly clear. Likewise among the Buddhist Yogas. Naropa's Six Yogas of Form are known and mastered by a tiny number of people. The Formless Yogas of Dzogchen and Mahamudra (most popularly taught, without naming them as such, by Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now and
A New Earth) are clearly the most accessible to most people. At age 60, I am not anywhere near a master who is teaching me how to produce the Tummo Inner Fire, the mastery of Dream Yoga, Transference of Consciousness, etc.

Moreover, age itself has greatly diminished my former randy sexual performances of 6 times a night. Sexual Tantra is not even a consideration now, nor the linear, Eros-based model of Kundalini-Shakti working within the Astral Sheath (Sukshma sarira). I am bid to shift to the Causal Body model of the Hridayam, the Heart cave (as taught by Sri Ramana Maharshi), and agapé-based model of Solar Heart (Surya-mandala) and Lunar Brain (Chandra-mandala), and their Coincidentia Oppositorum, or alchemical Conjunctio. From this metaphysical perspective, it matters little what motivations and behaviors manifest from the lower chakra motives, since they are harnessed to the chariot of Compassion-Wisdom and are not going to run wild, but are disciplined by monogamy and moderation. I still eat food, but assiduously avoid gluttony and mammal flesh. I still imbibe wine, Rajasic as it is, in the service of health, relaxation, and sexual stimulation.

What most people fail to understand is that disciplines like celibacy are maps, not cookbooks. Being celibate does not make one whole/holy, rather, wholeness results in celibacy. When one experiences greater states of wholeness, or unity, sexual congress becomes superfluous. This happens to us regularly during Entheogenic Excursions. The erotic attitude is markedly absent from tripping except for the early stages, when the lower chakras are being energized. By the time the Navel Center fills with energy, and is dispersed by the Bow Asana, for example, the Root Center's energies are jettisoned like the first stage of a multi-stage rocket leaving the gravitation pull of the Earth. Attempting to be celibate in my 20s brought madness, migraine headaches, social isolation, and "spiritual materialism" - pride in one's self-control, hubris, and little more. Then there was guilt, shame, and self-recriminations for failing in my discipline. Now, there is a natural diminution of preoccupation with sexual energies, freeing me up much like I was just prior to the onslaught of puberty.